Thursday, October 16, 2008

Political Football

So there we were as a family, clustered around the screen, rooting for the home team. Yelling at a good hit, clutching our heads when we were on the defensive... Yeah, those political debates are doozies....

Seriously. Our family takes politics seriously. We have discussions around the dinner table, over breakfast and tea and cards and anywhere else we happen to be. We email each other commentaries or funny spoofs (Tina Fey's Sarah Palin is a big hit around here: "We're going to ask ourselves what a Maverick would do in this situation, and then ya know, we'll do that.") and of course stay up to watch the debates, the post-debate coverage, and the pundits and pickers-over afterwards. In a time when political apathy has been the norm among young people for so long, it's exciting that not only young voters, but those too young to vote are so interested in this election and in the political process.

Jody writes about her experience already voting with her son. We have to wait a few more days until our ballots arrive, but we've been reading through the voter's pamphlet already. Mackenzie told me he wants to watch me vote for Obama, a historic occasion by anyone's measurement. But beyond the history in the making, he knows my reasons for choosing candidates, and not just the Big Cheese for Prez candidates either, but judges and representatives and our own very tight mayoral race, which will have a huge influence on the direction of our city in the next few years (we have one candidate who is openly for sprawl and development over any kind of environmental sanity). It will be a moment to remember all of his life, the first time he became involved in the political decision-making that is the cornerstone of our country's existence. It makes all of that reading about the American Revolution come to life when you exercise that right to vote.